Hi Thanks in advance for the help~! How do you convert PC files to Mac files, while using a PC? I am able to .sit the files in an archive, but I am unsure of what needs to be done to the PC files, to make it easier on Mac users to use my characters from the marketplace. In essense, I am trying to make MAC only version. "magnet"

I am trying to make MAC only version Why? The easiest thing is to send the PC files and tell Mac users to apply Maconverter to them. Is there some reason you cannot do that?

Yeah, Maconverter always works for me when I have PC-only files. Never a problem.

The Mac File structure is different from the PC file structure in that resource files are not seperate files as they are on the PC (.rsr files), but are included in the data file. Within the file header is a resource fork which directs the Mac OS to look to a seperate portion of the file for any resources (ie thumbnails for .cr2 files). I know of no PC utility which will rebuild a PC file to accomodate this structure (and combine the two files). As previously mentioned, Mac Converter will do this easily (on a Mac), so there is no need for you to do it from your PC. Just mention, somewhere in your documentation, that Mac users should convert your files using Mac Converter before attempting to use them and indicate "Mac/PC" under platforms supported. If you really want to write a utility to do this, contact MartinC and ask him if he will help you (I don't know that he will, but he is the author of Mac Converter). Jim Moore

Attached Link: http://www.soft-rabbit.com/

Hi magnet, there is currently no way to convert on a PC - I would love to write a tool like this, but because of the differences in the file systems that Jim mentioned, both PC <-> Mac conversions must take place on a Mac disk. If you release FreeStuff or just a few commercial download products, it will be completely sufficient to tell your Mac customers about the conversion tool. If you want to set up a real professional business with full crossplatform offers, you would need to get hold of a Mac in order to do it. You will also need one if you want to create hybrid Mac/PC CDs. Although some of the PC burning tools will offer to burn hybrid, you won't have complete control over the Mac partition unless you mount it on a Mac and clean it up prior to burning. If you only need one for your customers, any second-hand PPC Mac would do (and the early ones should be fairly cheap nowadays). My own tools run on *any* PPC that ever came out, but if you plan to burn CDs make sure that you have/get a compatible burner (SCSI for older models, USB/FireWire today) and a version of Toast that runs on the model. If you have further questions, feel free to drop me a note, MartinC

Wow, thanks you guys! My coding skills are not up to par to write an application that will do this sort of thing... but it seems like a cool idea! I was hoping for a converter of sorts, but it makes perfect sense why it won't currently work. I really appreciate you all taking the time to answer my question. For now it looks like I will be having people run the Mac Converter on it. Thank you!

As long as it is not an exe file or something like that they normally work fine.

MediaFour did a product called MacDrive2000 for using Mac disks (all sorts of media) on a Windows PC. It won't actually write Mac software but will help if you want to read and write from Mac disks. I think it was $30 at MacWorld. Carolly

Carolly (& magnet), that wouldn't solve it - it is only a way to mount Mac Volumes in order to access the plain data forks of the files. It is intended for tasks like a PC-only printshop that occasionally gets Mac-only ZIP-disks or CDs - this way they can mount it and copy the files to their own disks. If you copy something onto it, it will still be a plain PC file - it'll be the same as transmitting it by a .zip archive and to extract it on Mac. The only real chance for a PC -> Mac convertion on PC would be a much improved StuffIt Engine by Aladdin Software, that would allow low-level access during the .sit creation. In other words, it would need to convert directly into a .sit file. It is very unlikely that they ever release something like this, but - just in case - you can be sure that I'd be the first to give it a try... Cheers, MartinC

I may have missed this in the thread, but I'll mention it anyway, it is a little known (to PC users) fact that all "modern" Macs can read and write (and even format) floppies and Zips from PCs. Anyway, get youself an old Mac, they are actually fun, lookk for any Power PC that has a CD drive, try and get one with at least 32 Mb of memory (a lot of the older Macs used odd-ball memory that is still very expensive) running at least System 7.5, make sure you get the System CD. You should be able to get one like this for under $100 with a monitor, old Macs use different plugs on the monitors, you can adapt VGA monitors but it is a pain. Your find the operating system very, very easy to use, guess where Bill Gates got all his ideas for Windows! Just remember, drag the disk into the trash can to eject them!